Cornyn: Congress will not allow default — Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip, said in Houston Thursday that Congress will not allow an impasse over raising the debt ceiling to result in the federal government defaulting on its spending obligations. — “We will raise the debt ceiling.

A new strategy for the GOP — It has become conventional wisdom that Republicans are suffering an internal split that President Obama is successfully exploiting to neuter the Republican House. It is not true, however, that the Republican split is philosophical and fundamental.

Up next for Obama: A looming Democratic divide — As President Barack Obama approaches his second inaugural on Monday, he presides over a party that has largely papered over its divisions for the past four years thanks to the president's commanding popularity.

AP Sources: Obama Team to Form Agenda Group — In an unprecedented move, President Barack Obama's vaunted political organization is being turned into a nonprofit group — funded in part by corporate money — to mobilize support behind the president's second-term agenda.

Lance Armstrong to Oprah: Story was ‘one big lie’ … Saying his “mythic, perfect story” was “one big lie,” Lance Armstrong admitted that he cheated during most of his famed cycling career and that he bullied people who dared to tell the truth about it. — After denying doping allegations …

GOP's surprising edge on diversity — Editor's note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is co-editor of the book “Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns.” He is a regular contributor to “Erin Burnett OutFront” …

FOR WANT OF A NAIL — (January 16, 2033. A fire-lit cabin in the hills of Brezhnev City, Stalinton - formerly Boise, Idaho. A man sitting on a shattered milk crate looks older than his 53 years. His rumpled, malnourished grandson sits at his feet.) — “Grandpa?

The Dwindling Deficit — It's hard to turn on your TV or read an editorial page these days without encountering someone declaring, with an air of great seriousness, that excessive spending and the resulting budget deficit is our biggest problem. Such declarations are rarely accompanied …

GOProud Backs Civil Marriage For Gay Couples — The gay conservative group had avoided taking a position on the issue in the past. LaSalvia cites a need for “a truly conservative voice” to stand up for marriage equality. — GOProud's party at the 2012 Republican National Convention …

What Are Republicans Learning at Their Retreat, Anyway? — WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The press is bristling a bit at its access to the House Republican retreat. First problem: There isn't really any access. Not until a 1 p.m. press event. Reporters are sequestered in a golf clubhouse …

‘Battalion of Blood’ gunmen had one aim... to ‘kill infidels and Christians’: American and up to TWELVE Brits among hostages killed in botched raid on Al Qaeda gang at Algerian gas field — Islamist militants have offered today to free two American hostages held captive at an Algerian gas field …